america isn't a hard right country, intolerant, resentful of its new countrymen and women. it's progressive leanings who has rejected reversions to the policies it holds responsible for the country's current difficulties. it likes its president, it roots for his success and believes strongly that america will win again because of its deep resilience. well can change. we are changing. and when we see failure, when we see heart, we are to the afraid to change. there's an old line in the movies "i learned that people only true pay attention to what they discover for themselves. in the morning hours of newtown, connecticut, in the horror of 20 young faces we learned what must be done because we saw what was being done to our children and grandchildren if we didn't. we gave up cigarettes, which gave us pleasure, because we discovered the damage they can do, because of the horror they can do. we should be able to give up semiautomatic rifles. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. have a very happy new year.

breaking news, house republicans have just wrapped up a meeting to discuss the fiscal cliff deal worked out by vice president joe biden and senate m minority leader mitch mcconnell. the deal which passed overnight will see income taxes rise on individuals making over $450,000 a year, and families making over $550,000 a year. let's listen in now as house democrats speak. >> caucus meeting which -- in which the vice president not only roused the entire membership, but also gave us a very thoughtful and detailed explanation of what's gone on, and how it was that he and the president working with the democratic and republican

leaders in both houses were able to come together on this compromise. we first want to say thank you to the vice president for being so gracious. quite honestly, so frank in his conversation with us in explaining as much as he could about what's transpired over the last several weeks. we now are waiting to hear from our republican colleagues, whether or not they want to do what the senate did in a very bipartisan fashion and give the men people an opportunity to have a vote. there are people throughout this country who might look at this deal and love it. some might hate it. some may not and were it. but we firmly believe that every american in this country should have a right to have a vote in the peoples house. the senate sent us the bill. we're hoping the house will respect the wishes of the american public and let the representatives of those people

vote up or down on that legislation. and with that, will the me turn to our leader, nancy pelosi. >> thank you very much, chairman. last night the senate -- i guess it was early this morning, the united states senate voted in an uncharacteristically strong bipartisan way, 89 votes in favor of the compromise legislation. this is -- that was historic. that legislation was sent over to the house. up until now our speaker has said when the senate acts, we will have a vote in the house. that is what he said. that is what we expect. that is what the american people deserve. so we look forward now, as we go forward in this day, to see what timing will be for a straight up or down vote on what passed 89-8 last night in the united states senate. today we had the privilege, as our chairman said, of hearing

from the vice president. he talked about what's in the legislation and what lies ahead and difficult negotiations as we go forward. we had a frank, as you said, mr. chairman, frank discussion in that regard. right now other members after thoughtful deliberations and review are continuing to review the legislation, weighing the pros and cons. weighing the equities of not going over the cliff, but we are all eager to see the form that the republican leadership will put on to the floor today. i think that we've made gigantic progress. i hope that we can have a bipartisan agreement as we go forward. but as i said, our members are making their decision now, and we look forward to hearing what the republicans have to say. the person who will know best what our numbers are in this regard at some point during the day is our distinguished master counter, distinguished mr.

hoyer. >> thank you very much, madam leader. 112th congress has about 46 hours left to go. this congress unfortunately has been most known for an unwillingness to compromise. an unwillingness to come together to act on behalf of the american people. today is january 1st. taxes will be going up on everybody in america if we don't act. those who are relying on unemployment insurance, millions of americans relying on unemployment insurance to make sure they can support themselves and families, if we don't act will be at risk. vice president biden has worked very hard to come to a compromise. by definition, a compromise has elements in it that each party

does not like. but by definition, it has things in it that each party should like. the speaker said that if the senate passed a bill he would put it on the floor for a vote. the leader has pointed out that we expect that to happen. we think that's the best interest of the american people. we hope that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle can reach compromise. our members are reviewing the specifics of the compromise that has been reached to determine whether they can support that compromise. i'm hopeful this congress will, as one of its last acts, act not only on this compromise, but i'm also very hopeful and would expect that we would provide the emergency assistance needed for the victims of sandy. one of the country's worst

storms in history that damaged the northeast so badly. so, i'm hopeful we will be able to move on both of these issues and that we will have members on both sides who perhaps will not agree, but hopefully we will have members on both sides who will agree and we can act as the mesh people expect us to do so. >> can i ask you -- >> you're from -- we'll hear from the incoming vice chairman as well. >> thank you. i'll be very brief. i think the difference between a divided government and disfunctional government is the willingness to compromise. we saw that in the senate as leader pelosi and mr. hoyer have said. that means looking at an agreement and deciding whether on balance it helps not democrats or republicans but whether it helps move the country forward. and we're hopeful that republicans in the house will do

as democrats and republicans did on the senate and weigh all the equities here, but decide at the end of the day not everybody gets 100% of what they want. democracy means a willingness to come together for the good of the country, that's what compromise is all about, especially in an era of divided government. our members are taking a look at the bill. and, you know, we just would ask our republican colleagues to bear in mind the good of the country as they also weigh all the equities here. with that, i turn it over to the distinguished vice chairman, mr. crawly. >> thank you, chris. i will add briefly we all appreciate the vice president coming to the caucus today in a straightforward, thorough way, explaining the process, the negotiation and why we are where we are at today. i do think, though, the time for

discussion and talk is coming to an end. and it's going to be time for us to vote soon, or all this would have been for naugt. our being here new year's eve, new year's day, would have been for naugt if we don't come to a vote. that's what the american people expect and deserve out of this process. we can either move forward in a bipartisan way, hand in hand to avert the fiscal cliff, or our republican colleagues could help lead us off of that cliff. >> questions? >> i think you were first. >> can i ask, what are your spies on the other side in a sense telling you how it's going over there? you have to count heads with them as well. >> i'm not stipulating to any characterization of any information that we received from our friends in the press.

i really have no idea. >> you have to get with them as well to approve this. what are you hearing from the other side? >> i think that your question is better addressed to the republicans coming out of their conference. we just came out of ours, and we know what you tell us as to what's coming out of their conference. >> let me just say, we have not had an opportunity to talk to their leadership at this point in time. >> since our votes. >> you said just a moment ago you would prefer a straight up and down vote on that. >> absolutely. >> is that because of the time or this was a deal brokered by the vice president? >> no, it was a bill passed in the united states senate, 89-8. tell me when you had that on a measure as controversial as this. i hope we don't have a re-enactment of that where the republicans in the house painted

themselves in the extreme of not wanting to find compromise an a solution. let's be optimistic. let us all, as mr. hoyer and others have said, that they decide in favor of the country as we go forward. the issue of whether we have an up or down vote shouldn't be a question -- there shouldn't be a question. we were told when this -- we would not have any legislative -- legislation on the floor until or unless the senate acted. when they d we would have a vote. so we want to have that vote. we look forward to what the timing is on that. this is all about time. it's about time we brought this to the floor. as mr. hoyer mentioned, it's only been a matter of a couple of months since the election, eight weeks. in that period of time we've been pushed to even into a new year. it's long overdue for us to have this solution go forward and remove all doubt as to how we

go -- what comes next for our country. so we expect, the american people deserve an up or down vote on what was pass in ted in senate. >> if there is an up or down vote, how many democratic votes will you be able to deliver? >> that's not a subject that i'm going to talk about now. >> members are considering the legislation. they just heard from the vice president. and we will find out which members -- >> you're saying you want bipartisanship from the other side, don't you have to say that you're willing to support had piece of legislation? >> i don't think there's any doubt that we'll have bipartisanship. she asked me for the number. i don't have a number. i can tell you we will have a bipartisan vote. >> thank you very much. >> when will you start whipping?

>> we just finished hearing about house democrats about the physical cliff negotiations ongoing. to give a little tick tock of what we've seen, both house democrats and house republicans had separate meetings about the legislation passed early this morning in the senate overwhelmingly, 89-8. we saw vice president biden leave the vice president leave, then boehner did leave. a number of house democrats did come out and speak at length and take questions. we are going now to mike who is standing by with more on this. the message from the house democrat democrats seem to be very clear, they want a vote on this. what can we deduce? >> i'm hearing from our crack

production team, they're standing outside the gop conference, eric canter, the number two in the house of representatives, he says that he cannot support the bill. he cannot support the senate bill what does that mean? that means the house is going to vote to amend the bill. they do not think there are enough spending cuts in this bill. that's what we've been hearing consistently as news trickled out from that closed-door meeting. they have broken up that one meeting. they will have another later today. this is not going as smoothly as a lot of people had hoped, particularly after that 89-8 vote in the senate in the wee hours of the morning, about 1:45 a.m. in the senate when they voted. unprecedented, amazing bipartisan vote, really. up to the house now. the senate has gone to the winds. here's what happens, this is complicated and vital. not to mention interesting. let's assume that the house amends the senate bill.

the senate is gone. they don't expect to come back to the next congress that begins on january 3rd, that's thursday. let's assume the house votes tonight or tomorrow to change the bill. if the senate doesn't act by the time the next congress is sworn in on thursday, we're in a brand new congress. a congress must be sworn in on january 3rd that means we start over again on the floor of the house and senate. the stakes could not be higher at this point. this is big news. >> and what are you hearing about what happened in the meeting that the republicans had? speaker boehner had said repeatedly if the measure went through the senate, they would take it to a vote. >> eric canter, the number two republican in the house of representatives, has come out of that gop conference, outside that conference and told the

conference the gop members that he could not support the senate bill. other members have come out and said they want to change the senate bill. >> i'm sorry to cut you off, mike. you have such great information. we have to go. just to recap the headline, it doesn't look like we'll see a vote on this today. we'll be following the latest. , [ male announcer ] at scottrade, you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person.

[ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. . women's health care, equal pay for equal work, birth control. those were the issues that republicans decided ed td to tn 2012. it was a year when women were almost forced to have an invasive and unnecessary

ultrasound. governor tom corbitt didn't understand what the fuss was about. >> did that go too far in your mind? >> make anybody watch? okay. you have to close your eyes. >> it was a year in which republican presidential nominee campaigned on defunding planned parenthood. would not take a position on the lily leadbeater fair pay act. and bragged about his governorship of massachusetts. >> we took a concerted effort to go out and fine women who had backgrounds to become qualified as members of our cabinet. i went to a number of women's groups and said could you find us folks? they bought us binders of women. >> it was a year when republicans pushed for extremist candidates like todd aiken and richard murdoch. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to shut that whole thing down. >> i struggled with it myself for a long time.

i realized life is a gift from god. even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, it's something that god intended to happen. this contraceptive thing, it's so inexpensive. back in my days, they used bayer aspirin for contraceptives. the girls put it between their knees. it wasn't that costly. >> it all started in february when republicans held a hearing on the affordable care act's contraception man dade. no women testified. democrats were allowed to invite one witness. they george sandra flock, chairman of the house oversight committee darrell issa rejected her as not qualified to speak on the matter. she eventually gave her testimony in front of a democratic congressional panel and became a target of the biggest voice of the republican party, rush limbaugh.

but before limbaugh could launch his smear campaign against a private citizen, sandra gave her first national interview here on "the ed show." >> great to have you with us. i understand that you had already planned your testimony. you were going to cite some examples of people who could have benefited from president obama's mandate for birth control coverage. share with us what you would have told that committee today. >> that is what i was there to speak to the committee about. that's why i was so stunned when chairman issa made the decision to not allow me to speak on behalf of those women and to say that i was not an appropriate witness. that those women's stories were not appropriate. i cannot think of who would be more appropriate for the committee to hear from, than the women who are affected by this policy whose lives were affected. one of the women i wanted to talk about today is a close friend of mine.

she has polycystic ovarian syndrome, so what that means is she needs to take contraception for medical reasons to stop cysts from growing on her ovaries, and not to prevent pregnancy. that technically means it should be covered on georgetown's student health insurance, which does not cover contraception for prevention of pregnancy, but unfortunately, when university administrators and employers and insurance companies get involved in deciding whose health needs are legitimate and whose aren't, what happens is that women's health needs take a back seat to that type of ideology. that happened in her case, and we found it happened in 65% of the female students cases. for her, she was unable -- they repeatedly refused her contraception coverage claims. she had verification from her doctor, it didn't matter. she had to pay out of pocket about $100 for her, month after

month after month. and eventually she just couldn't afford it, like many students just cannot afford that kind of a cost. and she had to stop taking it. i have to tell you, it is so -- what happened is that after a few months of her not taking the prescription, a massive cyst grew on her ovary. and she woke up one night in the middle of the night in terrible pain. she told me that it felt like she had been shot. and i don't want to imagine what that felt like for her. but what ultimately happened is that she had that ovary removed. she had to have it surgically removed. and as a result of that, of course she would have problems conceiving a child. but even more, it just -- it has not stopped for her. she -- she, since the surgery, has experienced the symptoms of early menopause. and her doctors are very concerned that at the age of 32 she is entering early menopause, which means that there is

nothing any doctor can do to help her conceive a child, and it will put her at risk for -- increase the risk for cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis. and that is where she was this morning when i was attempting to tell her story in front of members of congress. she was at the doctor's, trying to cope with the symptoms she was experiencing. >> are people on campus, is this really hitting the attention of women you interact with professionally in the school setting? >> oh, my goodness, unless you studied at one of these schools, i can't explain to you what it is like on campus. we have been following the regulations ever since the affordable care act was passed. it is a fight we have been fighting for years, literally for decades they have been struggling. this has made so much difference a difference for us. >> sandra fluk, i appreciate you being here tonight. i know they watch on capitol hill.

great testimony here on "the ed show." and i think you'll probably get an opportunity to talk more with people who are in position to talk with others that make decisions that affect the lives of women, i really appreciate you being here tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> you bet. >> mitt romney's caught on tape comments, reveal his true feelings about the poor in the country. how the 47% changed the presidential race. and we traveled the country to bring you stories of workers fighting to keep their jobsed a republicans tried to dismantle labor unions. the future of organized laner and much more. stay tuned.

welcome back to msnbc and our rolling coverage of the fiscal cliff deal. the vote overnight was 89-8. it's over in the house. we heard from house democrats as

they finished their caucus. coming out in support of that deal that came from the senate and was approved in that vote 89-8. nancy pelosi, highwoyey there a well, to count the votes to make sure how many they could guarantee to support that bill. there's a recent development we have learned here at msnbc. we are hearing there is not support coming from cantor. the speaker is not sure -- he walked by the cameras earlier. did not make a comment. nbc's mike viqueira what are you hearing? >> eric cantor, the number two republican after john boehner, the speaker of the house voiced his lack of support.

he will not support the bill that passed the senate last night. it was about 1:40 last night in the morning, 89-8. the senate passed it. they largely left town. they left it up to the house of representatives to decide what to do to avoid the fiscal cliff. the house must act on the senate bill and pass it if it's to come to the president's desk for his signature. the house leader said last night they will either do that -- first they will take time to look at it, talk about it. they will either pass it as it stands or amend it. evidently what we found out right now, the significant fact that the number two republican, eric cantor, known to be a conservative leader, of course, is going to oppose it, it's looking as though republicans in the house of representatives are leaning towards amending the bill. that means the senate now, largely out of town, would have to come back, the house votes to amend it, they could hold this

vote tonight or tomorrow, send it back to the senate. the senate largely gone. it raises the possibility that the new congress which is sworn in on january 3rd, thursday. that's set forth in the constitution. if they can't get their ducks in a row by then, you start over in the congress. all the negotiating and haggling we've seen over the last several weeks and the last several intense days of negotiation between joe biden and mitch mcconnell would go for naugt. they would have to start over. that's an enormous development. i must caution that we do not know. house republican s have not tipped their hand on what they'll do. they are upset not only about having a bill put before them that requires those making more than $450,000 or $400,000 if you're an individual, 450,000 if you're a couple filing jointly, to pay a higher tax rate, income above that level goes from 30%

to 39.6%. they are upset also about the lack of spending cuts. there's revenue from the tax side, but not a corresponding, for republican tastes, amount of spending cuts. that is what they're likely to try to do. they're likely to try to change this bill. procedurally, you look at the tick tock here, it could have vast repercussions for the markets that open tomorrow if this is not settled and it's still open in the air as well as the larger american economy. a lot of the plans here, hanging by a thread. this thing could come off the rails. we're not sure what the republicans in the house are going to do exactly. the idea was john boehner, the speaker of the house would have to say to his folks, look this is a bad deal. we'll live to fight another day, hold your nos and vote for this. apparently the opposition there is very strong. the feelings are very strong within the house gop conference. we're not sure how this will go.

but now a big question mark hangs over this legislation. >> needless to say, nobody wants to see this drag on anymore. needless to say, you have been covering this. let's go over to luke russert also watching this for us. what are you hearing in terms of eric cantor and speaker boehner now. >> it's a wild story, richard. i have some details about that meeting that happened on capitol hill. i heard there are about 40 members who spoke um in that meeting. 37 of the 40 who spoke up spoke out against the bill. one member who is pretty close to the house speaker, john boehner, told me "it was like living in another world, listening to some of the things my fellow members were saying." talking about maybe we should have hundreds and millions in spending cuts to this amendment we will send over. this member told me he felt his colleagues did not have a clear idea of what exactly was happening throughout the country.

that this idea that the senate last night had an 89 members voting together in a bipartisan way, that this was missed on his colleagues in the house does does this mean? eric cantor said he was not for it as it currently was. he wanted to see an amendment. john baoehner has been silent about this. i'm hearing harry reid would essentially laugh at that and say are you kidding me? we spent this time, joe biden and mitch mcconnell spent all this time trying to get an agreement. what are we supposed to do with this? this leaves the question out there, could we go over the fiscal cliff entirely? we are teetering on the edge from where we stand now, it's a good possibility. i will say though, if john boehner wanted to take this bill and put it to the floor without amendments, essentially having a p profile in courage moment t would probably pass. from the republican i spoke to in the room, they said if

there's an appetite for folks who have been around here for a while to get this over with, they can live to fight another day on the debt limit and on the government funding bill. but this would be a pr disaster for republicans. there is nowhere else for this bill to go. if the house gop tries to administration this with this short amount of time left, they feel, this member spoke to me and folks close to the speaker, they feel the claim woublame wo them. the sandy supplemental bill for the relief and the folks effected by the hurricane, that's tied up in this, too it's a fascinating development on capitol hill. it shows you nothing is over for the 112th congress. >> fascinating insight into what was discussed in the caucus. luke, stand by for a second. we will go back to mike who is also getting information about speaker boehner. >> i'm sure luke has the same

information. it comes from brendan buck, a spokesman for the speaker of the house, john boehner. he says the speaker and leader, the leader eric cantor, laid out options to the members and listened to feedback. the lack of spending cuts in the senate bill was a universal concern among members in today's meeting. conversations with members will continue throughout the afternoon on the path forward. again, everything up in the air there, as luke has been reporting. i just want to re-emphasize what luke was talking about in terms of the congressional schedule. the constitution says the new congress, the 113th congress will be sworn in on thursday. if you look at the procedures, everything that has got to happen if this new -- if this old congress, this existing congress is to pass this legislation, if the house were to amend it -- assuming. we don't know what they'll do. it sounds like they're leaning

in that direction. it would have to go back to the senate. the senate has scattered to the winds at 2:00 this morning. a lot of ifs and buts in this thing. there is the possibility this could carry over into the new congress which would mean the slate is wiped clean. they could not take up the senate bill. they would have to started again. >> they would be sworn in at noon on that thursday, the 113th congress. they would have roughly about 80 or 90 new members, including democrats as well as republicans. as luke was speaking about the timing here, what could happen, despite cantor saying he could not support the bill the way it stands, vick, would see see speaker boehner consider this moment of political courage that luke was hinting at and still bring this bill to the floor and have the numbers as it may look like right now to get it passed?

>> first of all, i mean that would involve a fascinating dynamic internally with the house republican conference. eric cantor came out and said he will not support it. there has been tension between the top two republican leaders, a rivalry. many people have written about it. it's not a big secret. i'm not talking out of school here. eric cantor stood four square behind boehner throughout this negotiation over the course of the last two months. ten days ago, in the speaker's plan b, when that crashed and burned, eric cantor stood behind john boehner. so we don't know -- it doesn't appear. we can't report there's division among them now. but it certainly is a significant development. obviously cantor is influential, particularly among house conservatives who are the heart of the republican party. john boehner has said in the days leading up to this, as it was being negotiated this deal between mcconnell and biden,

that he would not put something on the floor that was a democratic -- would require a majority of democrats to pass. a lot of people talked over the course of the last several weeks about the majority, the majority tradition in the house of representatives. i'm here to tell you, this is not dig that john boehner or denny hastert made up, this is the way it operated since almost the early 19th century and the days of henry clay, that is the speaker of majority party will not put a bill on the floor that does not get a majority of the party. a lot of people thought 89-8, boehner will put this on the floor, he will tell them you will live to fight another day. the automatic cuts known as a sequester, they are punting those for two months, the funding bill is set to expire at the same time.

leaders have been telling their rank and file we will fight then. it will be much better political ground. apparently that has not carried the day here. not enough spending cuts as mentioned this that statement by the speaker's spokesman. not enough spending cuts to satisfy republicans. they will do what they feel is best. they will amend it, send it back to the senate and that raises the question whether this can get done by noon on thursday and avert the fiscal cliff. obviously the holiday is over tomorrow. the markets are open. people are back to business and earning paychecks. paychecks that will be taxed at a much higher rate. >> the question is if speaker boehner will violate the rule, will he bring this bill to the floor and not have majority. >> that's still a question. >> but still get the bill passed. >> stand by. we will continue to discuss these latest developments coming out of the house and whether or not this bill coming from the senate, 89-8 will be taken up on the floor.

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our rolling coverage of breaking news coming out of capitol hill. this as we're getting word, that cantor said he could not support the senate bill that was passed earlier 89-8. boehner did not say either way. we are also hear iing that as t bill came to them from the senate, he would also be a no. luke russert has been following this throughout the last 24 hours and all the things. you have with you the representative. >> you're a close ally of speaker boehner. what happened in conference today? what was so problematic with this bill? >> the difficulty is it's heavy on tax increases.

the spending reductions are basically nonexistent and adds about $600 billion more in spending. >> where do we go from here? you think there will possibly be a vote tonight on an amended bill? >> the overwhelming consensus in the conference was that the leadership should go back, huddle, find an amendment that addressed spending in a responsible way. it's not going to be some amazingly huge package, but a token and symbol that is not the poison pill that does not drive the democrats off the wall. there was discussion about something that the president himself already suggested, to lay don't marker as we move forward, it's not just taxes, but spending as well. >> what was looked at that the president already suggested? >> they were not specific. there was a lot of talk about sequester. as you know, in the senate proposal, sequester is delayed

for two months. half is paid for by new taxes, half by tax gimmicks. in an amendment, it would say if we're not going to do sequester, it should at least be with real spending cuts. we are getting indications from the senate they would not even look at an amended bill, sort of the idea that time has run out. mitch mcconnell, joe biden, they were here until the early hours of this morning on new year's day. what happens -- are we going to go off the cliff? >> i don't know. that will be a decision for the senate. quite frankly, the senate had in its power for over six months to do what it did at the stroke of midnight last night. that's amend the house bill and send it back to us. it's unreasonable for senator reid to say that something they produced on new year's eve, produced by a bunch of sleep-deprived people is what we shouldcantor, you said, is agai

the bill. boehner received opinion. boehner can't go over cantor on this one. >> the speaker needs 218 votes. so they're trying to craft something to get 218 vote which has been an elusive target in this 112th congress. i sensed if they came up with something responsible and reasonable and laid down the marker on spending, that will be there with the speaker. >> going forward, do you think -- how many folks do you think in your conference would support the bill as it is now? >> that's hard to say. but it certainly wouldn't be the majority. the majority, i don't even know if you would hit triple digits. if the bill came up in its current form, i would vote for it because i think it's unreasonable to hold hostage 95% of america and say you will get a tax cut because we can't get our business taken care of. that doesn't mean it's a good bill. it would be a hold your nose, jump off the flat form vote.

>> you think the number f we're talking the hastert rule, boehner wants the majority. so on this bill, 60, 70? could you get that? >> i would put it in the 40, 50 range. >> 40, 50 right now. >> maybe. >> still a lot of room to go. >> if the democrats stem up, the math becomes a different equati equation. you have to get to 218. >> are you worried that the house republican conference will singlehandedly receive the blame if the united states goes over the cliff because they want this bill amended? >> i watch your network a lot. republicans get the blame if it's sunny outside. people make their own judgments. the people i represent, i come from a swing distance say this is a problem. people should pay their fair share and there should be more revenue. >> representative steve

latourette, thank you. richard, back to you. >> thank you. very insightful there. getting an and wering of what's being discussed in capitol hill. house republicans expecteded to have another meeting in the coming hours. we'll watch that and look at what some of the repercussions are, based on what rptdive latourette told luke russert on this issue of eric cantor not supporting the bill as it stands coming over from the senate. 89-8 earlier today. stick with us. we'll get back to capitol hill in a bit. [ man ] ring ring... progresso

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r50i9 right now our members after very thoughtful dlab rations and review are continuing to review the legislation weighing the pros and cons, the equities of not going over the cliff, but we're all very eager to see the form that the republican leadership will put onto the floor today. i think that we've made gigantic progress. i hope that we can have a bipartisan agreement as we go forward. >> all right. house minority leader nancy pelosi, gigantic progress is the word she used there, and then just about 30 minutes ago we learned this. this coming from a spokesperson for eric cantor saying the speaker and leader laid out options to the members and listened to the feedback. the lack of spending cuts in the senate bill with a universal concern amongst members in

today's meeting. conversations with members will continue throughout the afternoon on the path forward, end quote. representative latourette giving us more body around what that sentiment is. representative latourette saying eric cantor said he would not support the senate bill in its current form. then we spoke with luke russert moments ago who was telling him he needed more spending cuts to that. mike viqueira, who is in washington, d.c., following this with us, what might be these symbolic spending cuts specifically that might be out there right now that would be palatable in this back and forth that the we're seeing? >> reporter: well, you know, it's impossible to say, richard. we can look at the recent past history of this negotiation, and the speaker was talking about -- he's been talking about it since the day after the election quite publicly, quote, simplifying the tax code on the revenue side to generate more revenue. he was talking about on the

spending cut side entitlement reform. you know, that what we called the chain cpi, the adjustment to the social security cost of living formula that had been on the table, then it wasn't on the table, then it was on the table and then off again, that's something that democrats had opposed quite vehemently and which ultimately ended up out of the deal that was brokered by mitch mcconnell and joe biden. so, i mean, i don't want to get too far down this road because i'm not quite certain what it is the republicans have in mind, although they always have a list of spending cuts at the ready. richard, just to reset a little bit here and talk about the significance of what is going on here this afternoon, if everybody expected this to go smoothly in the u.s. house of representatives after an overwhelming 89-8 vote in the united states senate at 2:00 in the morning last night, well, they're going to be disappointed if that was your expectation anyway. the house republicans have been meeting behind closed doors for much of the afternoon. they have recently emerged and we have learned that the number two republican in the house,

eric cantor, has said that he will not support the bill. now, for a leader to come out publicly against it means that it is most likely not going to be put on the house floor. the republicans are strongly leaning towards as you read from that statement from the spokesman for both cantor and house speaker john boehner, towards amending the bill and adding more spending cuts and sending it back to the senate. okay. that's the normal legislative process. that's the way it goes, this game of ping-pong between the two claim berchambers. problem is time is out. we are over the cliff. no harm there. folks are not back to work. the markets are not open. if the house is to amend this bill and they haven't decided concretely whether they're going to do it or how they're going to do it, there's another closed door meeting of the house gop conference slated for this afternoon as leaders are huddled right now in the capitol trying to figure out their next move, if they're going to amend it

tonight or tomorrow, it's going to have to be sent back to the senate if any changes are made. if they change one letter, one motor, one iota of this bill. that's schoolhouse rock. we've all learned that although we're far from schoolhouse rock at this point. the senate would have literally one day to do something, and the senate is not in session, assuming this is what the house ends up doing, and january 3rd is the day the new congress is sworn in. the existing congress, the 112th, the 113th comes in at noon on thursday, and if that happens and nothing is done by then, that he is no deal, there's no vote on identical pieces of legislation, the legislative slate is wiped clean and legislatively the process has to standard over again and meantime, people's paychecks are going to be taxed at a much higher rate, the markets, who knows what the markets are going to do, but they could pretty much go haywire at least in the short term and a tremendous amount of pressure is going to be mounting on these house republicans, on the congress, to

do something. it was thought that overwhelming vote last night would sort of strengthen john boehner's hand if he went to his conference and said this bill stinks, you know it, i know it, let's hold our nose and vote for it, let's live to fight another day. a lot of deadlines coming up, another fiscal cliff if you can believe it. apparently that argument has not carried the day. house republicans are cleaning toward changing the senate bill. >> mike viqueira, who has been watching this debate go back and forth, we now are getting some indications that with only 44 hours left in the 112th congress, they still may not have a deal that will pass in the house. we'll continue to watch the developments there on capitol hill with mike viqueira, luke russert who are out there scouring for information to get the very latest for us. you're watching msnbc and our rolling coverage of the fiscal cliff deal. we've all had those moments.

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